


Negotiate

by MysteryMuse



Series: MMX-XXX [18]
Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X
Genre: Asphyxiation, Axl is a considerate dom, Backgrounded OTP/OT3, Bondage, Electronic sedation, Extremely Dubious Consent, Face-Fucking, Gags, Handcuffs, Hostage Situations, Implied Relationships, Kidnapping, Lumine is a sucky dom, Lumine is suddenly a less sucky dom, M/M, Maverick on Hunter, Memory Alteration, Mind Manipulation, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Packaging, Redemption, Relationship Negotiation, Reploid Politics, Sexual Slavery, Soft bodies, Zero is GENIUS at topping from the bottom, Zero is a mouthy sub, Zero tops from the bottom, ridiculously human robots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-16
Updated: 2015-01-30
Packaged: 2018-03-01 17:46:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2782001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysteryMuse/pseuds/MysteryMuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When you kidnap someone and take them into captivity to make them your eternal slave, make sure you get all the kinks worked out in advance. (Now with Good End, Bad End, Even Worse End and...?)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Good End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How it was supposed to go.

It was very late at night, and Axl lifted the cover on Zero's recharger, leaning in to kiss Zero awake. [It's time, Zero.] Zero roused against Axl's mouth, sighing quietly into the younger Reploid's lips as the newgen ever-so-delicately tapped the side of his face with one of the Bullets. Zero gave a very dry grin. [I knew,] reached out to grab Axl's hand and climbed out of the recharger. Axl kept a firm hand on Zero's elbow as he teleported - a moment later, in twin needles of light, the two appeared in a pale yellow hallway Zero immediately recognized as part of the Tianna Camp complex. 

Axl started moving Zero toward one of the cells, gun in his free hand. The blond went along without resistance, though he was breathing hard and his agitated core whirring in his chest. He wasn't afraid; he felt relieved more than anything. Something he'd suspected for a long time was playing out now. 

"Just out of curiosity, how'd you figure it?" Axl said, letting go of Zero to enter a code in the keypad next to one of the cell doors. "I mean, I think I did a great job of hiding out, y'know?"

The door slid open, and Axl gestured with a waggle of the Bullet; Zero moved past him, sliding his hands through his hair, and entered the cell. 

Zero took his helmet off and set it aside, looking at the walls, which had large panels reflecting blankness, giving the impression the cell floated in an empty, colorless and indeterminate black space. "Honestly? You actually fit in too well. Like, someone so perfectly designed as to slot into our precise weak spaces and fill them... that couldn't be coincidental. My feeling only increased when we came back down from the Moon. It was just a feeling though, I never had any kind of proof." 

Axl giggled. "If it counts for anything, I've had a really great time. And I want to keep having a great time with you. You're the best! That's why I'm kidnappin' you and getting you secure out of the way instead of killin' you. Armor off, okay?" 

Zero closed his eyes and released the magnetic locks; his armor dropped off him in sections and clanked to the floor. Axl nudged the parts away with his foot as he stepped behind Zero and snapped a heavy collar around the blond's neck. Zero grimaced; a strange coldness rushed up his spine and he began to feel dizzy. His vision glitched, and parts of his HUD - notably, teleportation and communication functions - greyed out. His body seemed to drop away from him and he was dimly aware of collapsing, being caught by Axl. 

Axl helped him sit on the edge of the recharger bed, the cell's only feature. "Yeah, sorry. Your body'll probably bypass the thing in an hour, knowing you," Axl rolled his eyes a little, "But that's enough time for me to finish up here and get on with stuff." 

Zero felt Axl roll him onto his stomach in the bed. His wrists were handcuffed, and then a piece of looped wire was slid over his head, tightened up with a junction clip at the back of his neck, run through the chain of his wrist cuffs and then looped through the end of a second pair of cuffs, which were locked around Zero's ankles. The wire was folded back over itself and its end loop tightened around Zero's neck. Even through the scrambler haze Zero realized that struggling would end up causing him to garrote himself; his core revved even harder, and he shut his eyes tightly to concentrate as much as he could on breathing, stillness, relaxing into his restraints. Axl rubbed Zero's tense shoulder blades softly, and gathered up his hair, pulling it away from the snarl of wire and cuffs. "Please don't hurt yourself trying to fight, okay? I really mean it, I really like you and I totally don't want you hurting yourself." He brushed hair away from Zero's damp forehead, then smiled. "Thanks for not making it harder on me. Plus you can't tell me this isn't completely hot, right?" 

Zero sucked in a breath. "...maybe a little," he admitted, because it was. "At least, this is the most fun I've had with a Maverick in quite a while." 

Axl nodded brightly! "See!? This is how it's gonna be, Zero. You won't be used for war any more, though I intend to keep fucking you on a regular basis because gah, smoking hot." He leaned down, kissing Zero's earcone, whispering tenderly. "You're going to get your dearest wish. I'll keep you, safe and quiet, hidden and secured in places nobody knows except you and me. I'll take care of you. No more fighting, no more struggling, no more responsibility, no more Mavericks or Hunters, just peace." 

He pulled a heavy blindfold down over Zero's eyes. "Peace and being my hot fuck toy forever." 

Zero carefully turned his head, conscious of the garrote, pressing his cheek into the recharger. His head was a rushing blur of endorphins, managed terror and the dizzing effects of the scrambler. "t-Tell me what happens to X." 

Axl hmm'd, tapped an edge of the Bullet against the side of his head in thought. "Honestly? I'm kinda thinking it might be good to take him out gently, you know? Give him a good bang before the bang, break his neck and snipe his core while he's coming down in the glow. Problem with X is he just doesn't adapt like you, Zero. He doesn't bend. I don't really want to kill him, but he's too big not to deal with and he'll be a pain in the ass later if he starts trying to find you." 

Zero throttled a noise that was dangerously close to a sob. "Would it do any good if I begged you not to? I won't resist anything you do to me if you don't hurt him. Right now, as things are, you and I can just disappear." 

Axl toyed with Zero's arms, drawing absent patterns on the skin near his handcuffs, feeling the blond's taut shivering. "You don't really have anything to bargain with though, y'know? You can't fight me now anyway. And the truth is, I can do whatever I want to X whether you like it or not, because you're already managed. I'd be disappointed if you killed yourself in captivity, really bummed out. But it's not the end of the world either if you do, Zero. You kinda need to give me a way stronger argument." 

Then he grinned, and glowed bright white, shifting into X's body, using X's voice. He stroked Zero's back tenderly. "Besides, I can be X myself if it matters. Just like when I copied you, I got everything from him, all the memories, all the data. I can be X for you too if it helps. If I wiped the last couple of hours out of your memory, and hung around in this form for a little bit, and used all those back doors X put in your system, you might even think X decided to kidnap you and go Maverick himself, Zero. I could even make X disappear entirely from your mind. That's what I mean when I say you're already managed. You're owned either way, so maybe you should decide what you get to know and not know. The truth is, you're never really gonna know for sure what happens next, and whether it's true or not. All you're going to know from now on is this." He plucked on the wire running along Zero's back, just enough to make the point. "Are you strong enough to live with ambiguity, or do you want me to make it easy for you and take away the questions?" 

Zero licked his lips and was silent for a few moments. "Why don't we start with honesty and go from there, Lumine. You're breaking character anyway." 

There was a soft laugh and another shimmering flare; X disappeared, and Lumine was standing in his place, serene in white and lavender, drifting a foot off the floor. "This is why I appreciate you so much, Zero. But while we're on the subject of honesty...if you knew who I was, or suspected, why did you allow me to take you? You are a strong Reploid, after all. You could have resisted more. Why didn't you ever raise an alarm? Why did you let the persona of Axl so close to your heart? We both know that you did."

"Because..." The hog-tied figure suddenly glowed white too - melted and shifted, chains sliding through empty space - and an instant later, Lumine found himself staring into Axl's amused green eyes and the twin barrels of the Axl Bullets. "I'm _way better at this than you are_ , dumbass."


	2. The Bad End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Bad End (?) path of the previous chapter, wherein it actually IS Zero that gets kidnapped.

It was very late at night, and Axl lifted the cover on Zero's recharger, leaning in to kiss Zero awake. [It's time, Zero.] Zero roused against Axl's mouth, sighing quietly into the younger Reploid's lips as the newgen ever-so-delicately tapped the side of his face with one of the Bullets. Zero gave a very dry grin. [I knew,] reached out to grab Axl's hand and climbed out of the recharger. Axl kept a firm hand on Zero's elbow as he teleported - a moment later, in twin needles of light, the two appeared in a pale yellow hallway Zero immediately recognized as part of the Tianna Camp complex.

Axl started moving Zero toward one of the cells, gun in his free hand. The blond went along without resistance, though he was breathing hard and his agitated core whirring in his chest. He wasn't afraid; he felt relieved more than anything. Something he'd suspected for a long time was playing out now.

"Just out of curiosity, how'd you figure it?" Axl said, letting go of Zero to enter a code in the keypad next to one of the cell doors. "I mean, I think I did a great job of hiding out, y'know?"

The door slid open, and Axl gestured with a waggle of the Bullet; Zero moved past him, sliding his hands through his hair, and entered the cell.

Zero took his helmet off and set it aside, looking at the walls, which had large panels reflecting blankness, giving the impression the cell floated in an empty, colorless and indeterminate black space. "Honestly? You actually fit in too well. Like, someone so perfectly designed as to slot into our precise weak spaces and fill them... that couldn't be coincidental. My feeling only increased when we came back down from the Moon. It was just a feeling though, I never had any kind of proof."

Axl giggled. "If it counts for anything, I've had a really great time. And I want to keep having a great time with you. You're the best! That's why I'm kidnappin' you and getting you secure out of the way instead of killin' you. Armor off, okay?"

Zero closed his eyes and released the magnetic locks; his armor dropped off him in sections and clanked to the floor. Axl nudged the parts away with his foot as he stepped behind Zero and snapped a heavy collar around the blond's neck. Zero grimaced; a strange coldness rushed up his spine and he began to feel dizzy. His vision glitched, and parts of his HUD - notably, teleportation and communication functions - greyed out. His body seemed to drop away from him and he was dimly aware of collapsing, being caught by Axl.

Axl helped him sit on the edge of the recharger bed, the cell's only feature. "Yeah, sorry. Your body'll probably bypass the thing in an hour, knowin' you," Axl rolled his eyes a little, "But that's enough time for me to finish up here and get on with stuff."

Zero felt Axl roll him onto his stomach in the bed. His wrists were handcuffed, and then a piece of looped wire was slid over his head, tightened up with a junction clip at the back of his neck, run through the chain of his wrist cuffs and then looped through the end of a second pair of cuffs, which were locked around Zero's ankles. The wire was folded back over itself and its end loop tightened around Zero's neck. Even through the scrambler haze Zero realized that struggling would end up causing him to garrote himself; his core revved even harder, and he shut his eyes tightly to concentrate as much as he could on breathing, stillness, relaxing into his restraints. Axl rubbed Zero's tense shoulder blades softly, and gathered up his hair, pulling it away from the snarl of wire and cuffs. "Please don't hurt yourself trying to fight, okay? I really, really mean it, I totally don't want you hurting yourself." He brushed hair away from Zero's damp forehead, then smiled. "Thanks for not making it harder on me. Plus you can't tell me this isn't completely hot, right?"

Zero sucked in a breath. "...maybe a little," he admitted, because it was. "At least, this is the most fun I've had with a Maverick in quite a while."

Axl nodded brightly! "See!? This is how it's gonna be, Zero. You won't be used for war any more, though I intend to keep fucking you on a regular basis because gah, smoking hot." He leaned down, kissing Zero's earcone, whispering tenderly. "You're going to get your dearest wish. I'll keep you, safe and quiet, hidden and secured in places nobody knows except you and me. I'll take care of you. No more fighting, no more struggling, no more responsibility, no more Mavericks or Hunters, just peace."

He pulled a heavy blindfold down over Zero's eyes. "Peace and being my super hot fuck toy forever."

Zero carefully turned his head, conscious of the garrote, pressing his cheek into the recharger. His head was a rushing blur of endorphins, managed terror and the dizzying effects of the scrambler. "t-Tell me what happens to X."

Axl hmm'd, tapped an edge of the Bullet against the side of his head in thought. "Honestly? I'm kinda thinking it might be good to take him out gently? Kinda give him a good bang before the bang, break his neck and snipe his core while he's coming down? Problem with X is he just doesn't adapt like you, Zero. He doesn't bend. I don't really want to kill him, but he's too big not to deal with and he'll be a pain in the ass later if he starts trying to find you."

Zero bared his teeth and grimaced at that. "Would it do any good if I begged you not to? I won't resist anything you do to me if you don't hurt him. Right now, as things are, you and I can just disappear."

Axl toyed with Zero's arms, drawing absent patterns on the skin near his handcuffs, feeling the blond's tension. "You don't really have anything to bargain with though, y'know? You can't do anything now anyway. I got you. And the truth is, I can do whatever I want to X whether you like it or not, because you're already managed. I'd be disappointed if you killed yourself in captivity, really bummed out. But it's not the end of the world either if you do, Zero. You kinda need to give me a way stronger argument."

Then he grinned, and glowed bright white, shifting into X's body, using X's voice. He stroked Zero's back tenderly. "Besides, I can be X myself if it matters. Just like when I copied you, I got everything from him, all the memories, all the data. I can be X for you, too, if it helps. If I wiped the last couple of hours out of your memory, and hung around in this form for a little bit, and used all those back doors X put in your system, you might even think X decided to kidnap you and go Maverick himself, Zero. That's what I mean when I say you're already managed. You're owned either way, so maybe you should decide what you get to know and not know. The truth is, you're never really gonna know for sure what happens next, and whether it's true or not. All you're going to know from now on is this." He plucked on the wire running along Zero's back, just enough to make the point. "Are you strong enough to live with ambiguity, or do you want me to make it easy for you and take away the questions?"

Zero licked his lips and was silent for a few moments. As he quickly thought, he suddenly understood how to maneuver. "Why don't we start with honesty and go from there, Lumine. You're breaking character anyway."

There was a soft laugh and another shimmering flare; X disappeared, and Lumine was standing in his place, serene in white and lavender, drifting a foot off the floor. "This is why I appreciate you so much, Zero. You don't believe in lies. But while we're on the subject of honesty: if you knew who I was, or suspected, why did you allow me to take you? You are a strong Reploid, after all. You could have resisted more. Why didn't you ever raise an alarm? Why did you let the persona of Axl so close to your heart? We both know that you did."

Zero exhaled, voice washing out in a long, tired sigh. "I don't know. Maybe I was just tired of feeling like there was only one other person in the world that I could get close to. Maybe I wanted something that felt good for myself even to the point of not caring if it was real or not. Or maybe I just wanted to make this more pleasant for myself when it finally got here."

"You could have a worse master than I," Lumine agreed. "At the very least, I'm not Sigma, and I do care about what happens to you in the long run. The Hunters aren't the only world, and X is not the only person who can understand you."

Zero turned his head forward again, propping his chin on the bed. There was moisture on his cheeks. The wires strung around his neck glimmered. "Go ahead and gag me now. I don't want to talk any more."

Lumine cocked his head, almost said something, and then decided against it. He folded a large blob of some smooth, yielding material into Zero's mouth with his delicate white hands. The material puffed up behind Zero's teeth, filling his mouth completely, cool and thick and solid. A strip of wide black tape smoothed across Zero's lips completed the gag.

Zero pressed his face down against the bed, and became still - but Lumine sat beside him for a while, stroking his hair, and he felt Zero's body shivering against the wire.

\- - -

Lumine slid his softening cock out of Zero's mouth and rubbed himself against Zero's cheeks, leaving droplets of come on his neck and mouth. He sat back, letting his weight rest on Zero's waist, enjoying his orgasm and the possession of Zero's powerful body. He regarded the blond, wrecked and spreadedged in chains beneath his hands, marked by his come, with even more pleasure. Zero wasn't exactly enthusiastic, not like it had been when "Axl" was the one fucking him, but he wasn't resistant and he seemed calmly resigned rather than depressed.

Zero ran his tongue over his mouth and moved his shoulders a little around his neck, trying to reposition himself against a hot spot of growing soreness in his spine. "I want to know something," he said, settling again. "You had a good thing going there. X didn't suspect, you had me where you wanted me, you were even working beside us as a Hunter." Zero pushed his lips together; Lumine thought he might have been frowning under the blindfold. "Why do this and give up such a secure position? Why break the illusion?"

The newgen blinked once, surprised by the question. He decided to parry. "For the same reason you went didn't put up a fight when I took you - because I wanted to, I suppose. Are you suggesting we should go back? I guess there's no reason we couldn't; we've only been here two days. Our absence could be explained. I could resume playing Axl, and keeping you tightly bound and leashed and gagged in your little closet during your off duty hours, but you couldn't go back to that, could you, Zero? You said we should start with honesty after all. So be honest. Do you honestly think we can go backward? Could you willfully endanger X and allow me in the base now that you know the full truth of the situation?"

He activated his shapeshift and returned to using Axl's body and voice- he leaned down, and kissed Zero, smoothing his thumb over Zero's flushed face. He spoke softer. "Or are you kinda just really wanting me back and you don't know how to say it? 'Cause, you gotta know that there's no difference in the way I feel either way. I can see it maybe bein' different for you, but I'm still me no matter what. Totally do this if it makes it easier, though."

He felt Zero's sharp intake of breath and the way Zero's body stiffened - a reaction against emotional surprise rather than fear, he knew - and thought that he'd struck the target. He slid his tongue into Zero's mouth, feeling the blond melt in a way that he didn't just moments before, failing to hold back a whimper. He nuzzled and tease Zero's lips, sweet and soft. "Hey, it's okay... Zero, all you have to do is say it. Just say it."

Zero was visibly struggling with himself, his mouth tight and his breathing going ragged. Lumine decided to shortcircuit Zero's indecision by reaching out and pinching his nose tight - something impulsive that Axl would do to get Zero's attention - something to shock him into a gut reaction. It worked; Zero went red and thrashed his head to get away from the pinch, gasping. "nh. Fine - be Axl!'

Axl giggled, "Sure, since you asked nicely. Buut now I kinda feel like I gotta make sure you remember that I'm still the one on top." He reached down and placed his other hand over Zero's mouth, pinched his nose shut again. "Kinda bad thing about these bodies- it sucks that we can't go without breathin' for a long time like we used to, huh? What is it now, 15 minutes and then emergency shutdown?"

Zero mmphed and twisted helplessly, but Axl's hands stayed firm, pushing him down, cutting off his air no matter how hard he tried to escape. Axl felt himself getting harder as Zero bucked underneath him, desperate for breath, cries trapped in his throat. He wanted his hands free, so he quickly grabbed some tape- which required letting go of Zero long enough that the blond managed to snatch some air again, coughing while Axl tore off the end of the tape.

"waitnnfff!" Zero protested as his mouth was covered again, tape wound around his head and over his hair. "nfff!"

"Told you I wasn't gonna kill you and I won't," Axl said, as he kept taping, covering Zero's nose too. "It's just you're too fucking hot when you struggle." He smoothed his hands around, made sure everything was sealed tight, patted Zero's face fondly. "Night-night."

Axl slid down his body, stroking himself hard rubbing against one of Zero's thighs as the prisoner thrashed and bucked. He waited until he felt Zero start to weaken and then quickly mounted him, hard and fast, fucking him ruthlessly. Zero's smothered cries softened to weak moans. The last thing he felt was helpless arousal and Axl's cock throbbing in him, unloading hot come deep inside his body - and then he crashed hard, losing consciousness instantly.

Axl groaned and slid out of Zero again, gasping and leaning backward on his hands. Zero was cooling rapidly in his faint, empty and still, wrecked with sweat and soaked in come trails. Axl laughed softly, and took a number of screen captures of the unconscious blond to add to his already extensive collection, then moved away, leaving Zero where he lay. In an emergency shutdown it didn't matter if Zero was breathing or not; his body would reboot after a short time automatically, and then try again, and shut him down if he was still unable to breathe. The cycle would continue as long as he was denied air.

Axl let Zero wake and faint eight times - one for each of Lumine's mavericks, he thought, a certain kind of justice there - to drive home his situation fully, and it was more than two hours later before he finally unpeeled the tape and allowed Zero to breathe again.

"Hi," he said, sitting next to Zero when the captured Hunter woke properly. "I brought water." With his help, Zero drank, compliant and silent, the cool water giving him relief for his aching, overheated internal mechanisms. "You got the message this time, right?"

Zero nodded wearily. "Yeah, yeah, I'm your bitch." He was taking long breaths, calming himself, reclaiming his air.

Axl giggled at him. "A li~ttle crude but yeah, basically. Hang on, I'm gonna change your ties a little." He unlocked Zero's wrists from the spread eagle and took one of his hands to rub at the angry red mark on Zero's skin. "Maybe I should use wider cuffs on you, I don't like these marks," he sniffed, a touch of Lumine's rage for aesthetic order leaking through the persona. "When we get settled, remind me, okay?"

Zero was able to sit up, but Axl stopped him from trying to remove the blindfold, so he settled for rubbing his sore wrists and angry shoulders quietly.

Axl watched him, a Bullet at the ready in case he tried anything, but Zero stayed where he was, with careful, low-key body language. He let his hands rest across his thighs. "Settling... What is the endgame here, Axl?" he asked after a moment. "What's the actual plan? Does any of this still seem like a good idea now that we're actually doing it instead of just threatening to do it so we get off harder?"

"I dunno. I'm not in the right position to put together stuff for another army." Axl sat on the edge of the bed, next to Zero, with a grumble. "I guess I didn't think it out as well as I probably could have, huh? I mean, we were always talking about it, and it really did sound super hot. I like tying you up, you like bein' smacked around, we're not even that busy any more, what's the problem? I guess I thought getting you under control would be enough to start with an' then figure out the rest after that."

Zero chuckled, turning his head toward the sound of Axl's voice. "Well, for one thing, it's way more work than you were thinking, isn't it? That's why it's a -fantasy-. Managing an actual prisoner 24/7 is pretty much the most obnoxious thing. You have to do everything for them, including finding food and resources to keep them alive and burning energy making sure they don't escape. Why do you think Hunters don't take prisoners?"

Axl's face scrunched up. "You know how I always say we shouldn't let you talk? This is why, Zero." He glared over, but Zero shrugged his shoulders a little in answer.

"Look, just... think about it. I'm not saying you have to change anything. I'm not telling you what to do. I get it, I'm fucking nailed to the wall here. But just think about this. If we really go through with this, we're on the run, everything gets exhausting, and it stops being fun. It stops being anything remotely close to fun. You're not achieving ANY kind of goal by doing this, except getting your rocks off. And frankly, you can do that more and better by," He paused to breathe. "Just staying with us as Axl." He was shocked to hear the conviction in his own voice. "Let go of Lumine. What good is it going to do to start another uprising or be running for your life if you're not happy doing it? You put so much effort into this, and you wound yourself in so deep. Do you really not feel anything after all this time? You said it doesn't matter which of you you are, your feelings are the same. So what's so special about being a Maverick now?"

Axl huffed hard, his cheeks flaring red. "I kind of hate you right now, Zero," he said, and he punched Zero in the arm. "I kind of really hate you. Where were you when we first fought?"

Zero leaned back on his hands, tipping his head back. "I guess it's that I didn't love you before. That's kind of the point. We've all changed. Showing weaknesses, letting ourselves feel more. Being honest. Can you really do to me and X now what you wanted to do then?"

The newgen made another frustrated noise, sliding off the bed, pacing around angrily in mid-air. He reached out and tore off Zero's blindfold, staring at him with wide green eyes. "Dammit, Zero, obviously not or I would have just killed you both by now! But I hate you're making me say it. You're still wrong! The Hunters are wrong! X is wrong. Everything about the way Reploids live is wrong! I still believe that! I'm always going to believe that!"

Zero sat forward, looking at him intensely. "So what? Axl, who made you responsible for saving all Reploids? Why is that your job? Why isn't it enough to just fight for what makes you happy and the people that mean something to you? The world doesn't care if we try to save it or not. The future is beyond our control. Things will change how they want regardless of what we think. I know this sounds like betrayal to you, but you have to understand that most Reploids _don't care_ about what happens to them. The real truth, the truth that hurts the most, is that most Reploids are happy where they are."

He pushed off the bed and stood in front of Axl - just stood, dirty, disheveled and bruised, staring hard into the newgen's eyes. "You were happy being with us. After all we've done together... that's what you should care about the most. You've got people who love you. Lumine is just more data in your body. You're Axl to me. I don't care about the rest."

Axl's lips wobbled, pressed thin. He inhaled hard, eyes bright but not quite crying. "Zero," He raised the Bullet in a shaky hand and pressed it at the center of Zero's forehead, finger twitching along the trigger - but his arm fell quickly after, before he could shoot, before Zero could even exhale. "J-just shut up, okay?" he choked out, and then flung himself at Zero and hugged him hard and tight.

\- - -

"And then we came home and he voluntarily checked himself into R&D for a workover. The fact that he crumbled under a little questioning... I realized he didn't have any conviction. That made the situation easy to steer."

"Wow," X said softly, snuggling harder into Zero's chest as he finished telling the story later while they cuddled together in the Sky Room. "I'm proud of you, Zero. I don't know if I could have done what you did. Showing compassion like that is not always rewarded. But I'm pretty sure you saved both of your lives that way. I'm terrified to think what could have happened instead. You disappearing without a trace, or worse... I couldn't have taken it if you were killed." He shivered.

Zero pulled the blanket a little tighter around them and rubbed X's shoulder. "Well, we have an obvious choice to make now - or, I guess you do. How much do you care we're sheltering a known Maverick?"

"I should care a lot," X frowned, "At the very least, I have to find out what happened to the real Axl. If I had to guess maybe we didn't get all the virus or whatever that purple gunk was out after all... the more I think about it, the more I'm sure that it's still Axl's original body, at least. It even might have been nothing more than a temporary glitch in his copy chip."

"I was thinking the same. I'm even prepared to testify to that point when this washes out through the system. He kept saying 'we', which made me think he wasn't really under anyone's control or even fully Lumine. I don't think I'd be here with you now otherwise."

"Mm. We should be careful, but there's no reason to change anything if he comes out of the lab okay. Still, I wish you'd at least pinged me as you were going or something! You know I hate when you take unnecessary risks. I don't know why you always do that!" X swatted Zero lightly.

"A, you're a terrible actor and B, I know, and I'm sorry. I don't know why I do it either. I guess I always think I can take it all on myself and then spare you somehow. Even though you're stronger than I am... heh."

"You know, he is right about one thing," X commented, grinning and sitting up a little. "You do talk too much, Zero."

Zero smirked at the other Hunter. "Well, you know how to shut me up, X."

"Mm-hmm." X craned in to kiss Zero, and that worked very well.


	3. The Even Worse End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lumine wouldn't accept the Bad End, so we got this.

Zero went to bed with Axl, but he woke up with Lumine. 

"Oh. It's you again," Zero said, as Lumine lifted his head from his chest. "Please tell me you're doing this on purpose, Axl." 

"Well, this is interesting," the former Maverick spoke in his soft, graceful voice. "I'm just as surprised as you, Zero," the newgen said. "After all, I did agree to remain with you as Axl, and the lab told me that I was in no danger of a reversion. In fact, they were quite sure that none of my DNA data actually remained in Axl's body. That hypothesis seems to have been proven hilariously erroneous. Are all the researchers in the Federation completely incompetent?" 

Zero nodded. "To say the least." He glanced around, but as far as he could tell, he was still in the same place he started - curled up in the Sky Room with Axl, dozing off while being taken, in his own bed. "Uh. I don't suppose you could get your cock out of me?"

Lumine gave the Hunter a mildly rebuking stare. "You're in no danger," he reminded Zero, "Remember, Axl's feelings for you are my feelings as well. My body and speech have simply reverted to this program data for some reason I don't yet understand. Besides," the gold eye narrowed, "I'm enjoying myself too much." And he thrust once into Zero to punctuate his point, deep and hard, making the Hunter groan and throw his head backward. "I don't know why we should stop what we were doing before just because of this." 

Zero's mouth opened wide. Lumine simply pressed his hand over Zero's mouth and kept thrusting into him until the blond's resistance melted back into confused moans and hot, gasping breaths against his fingers. 

"There," Lumine cooed. "There. It's all right, Zero. Only the outside has changed. Doesn't it feel good?" 

The Hunter looked a little pained, exhaling a small puff of steam that trickled out from beneath Lumine's hand. His eyes showed that he was enjoying it, even though he wasn't sure if he should be. "Hnff," he groaned, as the Maverick thrust again deep. 

"Although I do think it might be a good idea..." The former Maverick giggled softly to himself and activated his teleport. In moments, they landed back in Gigantis, in the abandoned cells of the Tianna Camp, Zero flat on his back in the recharger bed with Lumine clutching his shoulders, still sheathed in him. "Shall we try that scenario again, Zero? I do feel like playing with you a little... playing with the wicked little fantasy I know you have about being forced to comply with a Maverick. It even looks as if the restraints we used before are still here."

"HNFFF." Zero tried to shake his head. His chest tensed, nervous energy building. 

"It seems you've already been captured by me so you may as well surrender," Lumine said, soft and prideful. "My body has control of yours, and..." He reached over, found the wire loop and wrestled it down over Zero's head, tightening it around the blond's throat, then tugged hard to pull Zero's mouth up to his. "I won't let you go so easily this time." 

He kissed Zero firmly, driving his tongue into the blond's mouth, smothering Zero's protests. 

When they broke apart Zero turned his head, gasping. He could taste the Maverick's saliva on his mouth. "I don't know if this is hot or terrifying," he finally confessed. 

"Can't it be both?" Lumine asked him then, with a dark smile, gold gaze locking on Zero. "Now, be good and stay still while I restrain you. If you resist, I'll simply pull this tighter, until your collapsing throat forces you to give in anyway." 

This time Lumine threaded the other end of Zero's wire leash through a part of the recharger headboard, but he placed the loop at the other end around Zero's neck as before, restoring the double garrote and cinching it as tight as he could. Zero swallowed hard, his jugular veins throbbing against the hard thin wire. 

Then, the Maverick took one of the pairs of handcuffs and wrapped its chain around the midpoint of the two wires, pinching them together. Zero's wrists were grabbed and locked into the cuffs, Lumine ratcheting them to their tightest setting. Zero moaned, closed his eyes tight, horribly turned on despite everything. "Hh, okay, you've captured me and tied me down. Now what, Maverick?"

Lumine chuckled. "Now I finish making you come. And you will come." He slid his delicate, graceful hand down Zero's chest and took hold of the blond's hardness as he also leaned back, adjusting his angle to resume fucking Zero into compliance. He gripped and stroked Zero's cock as well, lithe fingers flexing and teasing. But worst was the eye, the bright staring gold eye never lifting from Zero, seeming to look straight into him. Zero fought back with his body, struggling - although his bucking hips and deep groans could also have been eager, enthusiastic participation - and about ten minutes later he came very hard at last, with a long choking sound. 

The newgen looked amused, gazing on Zero as the blond's cock twitched and spilled out his guilty pleasure. He sat back, satisfied, though he himself hadn't yet come. There would be plenty of time for that, with Zero bound. "Of course this isn't the first time you've allowed a Maverick to dirty your body, is it?" He bent close while the Hunter glared up at him, red-faced. "Sigma took you over his desk, Ferham trained you to the whip, and..." He paused. "Well, you remember. It's now time for you to confess, Zero. "

Zero eyed him uneasily, straining to breathe, still aching from his climax. Lumine was still hard and pulsing steadily deep inside him, and Zero's thoughts spun into a wave of longing, slow and heavy and inexorable. The anger and the pleasure melting together were unbearably luscious. He tried to fight it, but his core was thundering and he knew he couldn't really hide his desire from the Maverick. "Confess to what?" 

"That you'll spread your legs for any Maverick strong enough to corner you." The newgen slid his thumb across Zero's wet slit. "That you yearn to be used recklessly. That you want nothing more, deep down, than to be someone's come slave, a pleasure vessel, a lifelong prisoner bound firmly in both mind and body." Lumine gave Zero's garrote a vicious tug, making Zero cry out. "But now that time has come. Your true master has appeared, and I will be that master. Rejoice."

He reached and slid his arms under Zero, leaned in to kiss him again. "This is the truth," he whispered. 

Zero's hands twisted, his fingers sliding against the wire leashing him. He turned his head to avoid Lumine's mouth, "No." 

"Yes. Your body already knew the truth from the day we met. You loved to let 'Axl' control you, push you harder and harder, demanding more and more strenuous compliance. Making you more and more his private plaything. He trained you to consider being bound your natural state, and you learned to take pleasure in it, to feel more free in chains. This is nothing but the completion of the process. Now I understand. Zero, I can't leave Lumine behind, because Lumine is who I truly am. Just as your body truly is the holy chalice for all Mavericks." Lumine turned Zero's face back to him, touched their foreheads together. "It's all right for us to be who we really are, Zero. That is what everything has been about."

"Untie me," Zero pleaded then, his body trembling, hands clenched. "Axl, please. Don't go this route. It only leads to more death. D-don't make me have to kill you, too."

"Lumine," the newgen corrected him, primly. "And you won't be killing anyone, Zero. Not this time." He found the tape roll, picked it up, watching Zero wince as he firmly separated the end, the tape squealing. He leaned down, pausing just shy of Zero's lips. "Nor will you die. I will keep you alive and well, my precious slave. As I said, you're in no danger. But you'll never see X again." 

He quickly sealed Zero's mouth shut as the blond tried to scream.


	4. The Even Worse End II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lumine's still not done.

It was three weeks after Zero's abduction from the Sky Room. Lumine had carefully and meticulously stripped Zero of all ability to teleport or transmit radio signals, locking out these abilities at a code level, as well as scouring away all of Zero's identifying beacons, codes and markers. With just a few simple alterations Zero had been effectively erased from all knowledge. That had happened only hours after Zero's capture.

That didn't stop the Hunters from still looking, but without traceable signals, there were simply no clues to go on. 

Lumine kept on the move, relocating Zero about once a week, using various means of camoflaging his captive. Opting for hiding in the open, he moved from country to country; this time ending up in a tourist hotel in Noah's Park, planning to use the Elevator and make his final jump to the decommissioned Gateway station in a few days. Gateway would be their last stop, the place Lumine intended to secure Zero long-term. 

The newgen strolled into the lobby of the hotel cool as a cucumber. Only Lumine knew that the large rolling suitcase on wheels that he pulled behind him, padlocked shut, contained Zero's tightly bound and unconscious body. Inside the luggage, Zero was fitted with a signal dampener that obscured his core beat and other vitals. 

Lumine checked himself in, waved away offers to help with his luggage, and took the elevator into the suite. Nothing fancy or out of the ordinary - not the best room, not the worst. Completely middle of the road, with a single bed and recharger port, a few human amenities (bathroom and shower) and a decent street view. 

The newgen chuckled and grunted, lifting the suitcase onto the bed - no small effort - Zero was still close to 130 pounds and sheer dead weight while unconscious - then unlocked the case and drank in the sight of his captive. He'd deliberately kept Zero undercharged since capturing him. It forced Zero to sleep more to conserve the energy he still had for his critical components, and it also made him more pliable, less able to resist being hacked or restrained. Zero was very low on energy now. 

Lumine unbuckled the outmost layer of broad straps packaging Zero, eased him out of the suitcase and tugged his limp body onto the bed. Many layers of tape and straps encircled Zero, binding him tightly from head to foot, and his hair had been braided to keep it from tangling. After making sure the dampener was still working, Lumine rolled Zero over onto his chest and hooked the room's charging cable into Zero's neck port. They would be here a little while, and Lumine wanted Zero awake enough to be interesting. 

In the meantime he set the case aside and looped Zero's chain leash around a secure part of the headboard, padlocking it. Then he sat down next to Zero and waited for the Hunter to recharge enough to regain consciousness. 

As soon as Zero started to murmur and wriggle a bit, Lumine quickly detached the charger. He wanted Zero awake, but not strong. The blond's bound hands moved, and then he started to struggle. Lumine sat with his knees up near his chest, just watching, letting Zero strain to try and turn himself over. Eventually the blond managed to squirm himself onto his back. 

He was starting to get used to waking up in strange places, so all he did was look at Lumine for an explanation. Usually the newgen was willing to tell him where they were. 

Lumine smiled, and brushed his fingertips over Zero's forehead, pushing back the strands of his hair still loose around his face. "Good morning, Zero. Today we're in Noah's Park. We'll be here for a few days. This should be our last stop before your final destination, however. I'm sure you're tired of constantly being moved." He ran his hand down Zero's shivering chest, fingers tapping at the straps.

Zero rested his head on the mattress, sighing. "Or you could release me and neither of us would have to be bothered." 

Lumine giggled at him. "You still dream of escape after this long, with so much evidence against the possibility? Oh, Zero." He rolled in to straddle Zero, placing his hands on the blond's shoulders. "I admire your persistence, but the facts are not on your side. I've kept you this long already quite easily. What makes you think I won't be able to keep you for as long as I wish?" 

The blond licked his lips. "Hope springs eternal, I guess."

Another small giggle. "Well... hope all you like, but hope doesn't loosen restraints. Only I can do that." Lumine petted Zero's hip. "Sit up." He moved off and walked into the bathroom. Zero pushed and kicked a bit with his strapped legs until he managed to scoot back and up against the headboard. Lumine brought him a glass of water, holding it gently to his lips. The blond quietly drank, eyes meek and blue, until the glass was drained. 

"More?"

Zero nodded. "Please. I've been good."

The Maverick tipped his head. "Admittedly, you have been." 

After the second glass was drained, Lumine set it on a table and looked thoughtful for a moment. Zero just sat, eyes half-closed, breathing quietly with his back against the headboard and the chain leash draped over his right shoulder. Then he asked, "What do I have to do tonight in exchange for being untied? I accept the leash is permanent." 

Lumine took light scans of Zero. "Are you in discomfort?" 

Zero seemed to try and stretch inside his bindings, his arms and legs stiffening briefly and then easing. "A lot. Not bullshitting you either... I feel incredibly sore. You're keeping me on too low a charge to autorepair myself fully, so this stuff is starting to really hurt." 

The scans were confirming - Zero was reading with numerous unhealed microfractures and a distended energy field. Lumine clicked his tongue briefly. "I seem to keep forgetting that old models like yourself don't have a secondary generator for autorepair and autonomous system backups. I apologize, my intent is not to torture you, just to keep you secure. Let me consider your request for a moment, Zero." He pressed his fingertips together. "We have certainly had a very... transactional relationship over the last several weeks, haven't we?" 

The Hunter turned his head, grimly nodding. "I have nothing to offer you couldn't just take anyway, but I need a real charge soon or you're going to be lugging around a corpse." 

The white Reploid got up and moved to pick up the charger cable, eye fixed on Zero. "If you stay bound as you are, I'm willing to allow you to recharge to 65%. If you truly want to be freed from all your bindings, I can only allow you 30%. You may choose one or the other. Which do you want more, Zero- freedom or power?" 

Zero closed his eyes - neither was ideal. He was at 12%, and close to browning out - he couldn't heal himself at all, and he could barely move even if he hadn't been restrained. He would lose consciousness again within a few minutes if he couldn't get more power. He made a small, soft grunt. "Power," he said then, and he locked gazes with Lumine. "Freedom is worthless if you don't have the strength to move." 

Lumine nodded. "Interesting. I suppose, given all your prior training, you would make that choice." He moved around the bed, and slid his hand on the back of Zero's neck, pulling him forward, a bit away from the headboard. Then he reconnected the cable. 

The blond Hunter sighed deeply as fresh energy flooded his weary body. He let himself rest. In need of a diversion, he turned to conversation. "What would you have chosen, Lumine?" he asked after a moment. "If you were in my situation." It was a strange question, but his situation was exceedingly strange already. 

The newgen cocked his head, tapped his cheek. "Hm. If I were captured, bound and offered the same choices... I suppose I would have come to the same conclusion. More power means more options, a better chance of surviving long enough to potentially defeat my captors. Of course, you already know that you were defeated long before now." He touched his lavender overhanging fringe, brushing it aside so that he could look at Zero with both eyes. "You're holding up well under the pressure but I think your resistance is fundamentally dishonest, Zero." 

Zero looked puzzled, genuinely puzzled. "You're a Maverick, I'm a Hunter... I'm pretty much required to resist." 

"No, you're a Reploid," Lumine said, and sat next to Zero again, "And before now you took great pleasure, even pride and satisfaction in enduring restraint, allowing your body to be displayed, stretched, manipulated and humbled." 

The Hunter found his face getting warmer. "That was a completely different circumstance." 

"It wasn't," Lumine insisted. "The only thing that's changed here is my body and my speech pattern, Zero, as I keep attempting to make you understand. You can not possibly be so inept that you can't understand that!" 

"But it's not!" Zero cried. "Axl was a Hunter. He loved me. He loved X. We were partners. He wouldn't have planned to seal me away like you're doing, cutting me off from everything. It's not the same! You're not the same as you were."

"Hm," Lumine said, exhaling. "You asked me to let go of Lumine, but I must ask you to let go of Axl. What he was... mm, I'm afraid I'm going to have to hurt you to make you understand, so perhaps the only way you can accept it is if I say it in this way. He was a cover, Zero. A cover and nothing more. A useful surface that existed so that I could get close to you and X, ingratiate myself into your system, infiltrate it and ultimately undermine it. Despite that, I am completely honest when I say that you are important to me, even loved, and that I do not wish you to suffer." 

Zero turned his head away quickly, his face darkening. "Then as far as I'm concerned, you've murdered Axl in his sleep. And I won't accept you as some kind of 'evolved' replacement. All you are is a Maverick. Just another Maverick taking something away from me that I cared about. Just like all the rest." 

"Of course you feel betrayed," Lumine reached to turn Zero's face back toward him, applying light force to do so, "I understand that completely. But we need to be dealing in truth. I created that mask out of necessity, because I knew you wouldn't hear me or understand if I tried to come to you again as myself. Look at how desperately angry you are now, how much you squirm now at my touch when three weeks ago you shivered with delight at it. The same hands, Zero, in both cases. Only a different skin. Don't I have just as much right to feel betrayed as you? You're telling me your love is conditional, situational, and that is no end of frustrating. And, to be truly honest, I don't think that is worthy of you. I expected better out of you." 

He sighed, and got up, walked away to go get an item from the side pocket of the huge suitcase. Zero stared after him, eyes wide. "You don't get to turn this back on me!" he cried, "You've broken everything between us and you want to claim that you still deserve to have it? That this is my fault?" 

Lumine shook his head hard. "This conversation is no longer productive... it's just making us both upset. We'll try again at a later time, when we can both be reasonable." He grabbed Zero sharply by the top of his hair, tilting the blond's head back, and quickly pushed a gag into the Hunter's mouth. Zero tried to shake free, but couldn't manage it, and was soon growling around the straps, his face burning. 

The Maverick moved a hand toward the charger cable in warning, simply commanding, "Stop. Now." 

Zero froze, shivering all over. He needed the charge more than he needed the fight. His eyes squeezed shut. 

"One thing is very clear to me. Axl is now standing in my way of getting what I need from you. The mask is now attempting to suffocate me. So perhaps you're right... it may actually be time for me to kill Axl so that you can move forward." Lumine's hands slid back into Zero's hair, his fingertips pressing softly into Zero's skull, finding the nodes beneath his scalp and magnetically locking onto them. 

Zero made a horrified choked sound; he was unable to pull away from Lumine's hands, but he was trying his damndest to shake his head no, and he was all but screaming it into the gag. His body tensed and strained at his bonds. 

But Lumine's gentle blue glow flooded into Zero's mind, and with a throttled whimper, the Hunter sagged in Lumine's hands. Then the murder began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is even happening? This fic is yet another monster starting to grow wild!

**Author's Note:**

> Just for fun. I LOVE the messy problems introducing newgen shapeshifters into the X verse created. ;D But I couldn't help but make it porny anyway...


End file.
